"Rachel, No." Kurt exclaimed exasperated pacing back and forth in frustration. "Im through with you trying to set me up after that fiasco with the male escort! You know how hard it was to explain to the cops, that I hadnt known and we didn't even kiss, so no I hadn't paid him for sex?!”  Kurt waved his arms around dramatically before stopping his pacing and staring directly at her “I swear they are still watching me closely, Rachel!”

“You know I didn't know either, Kurt” Rachel explained calmly “He was one of Brody's friends. How was I supposed to know my boyfriend was friends with someone like that?”

Kurt gave her a look of derision “We all know how that turned out, Rachel.”

“Well I didn't know then!” Rachel defended

“The point remains. I'm not going on another one of your blind dates.”

“Come on, this one's cute, sweet and sensitive!” Rachel grinned

“You said that about the crier too. And all I got out of that was a ruined Versace sweater.” Kurt sighed

“But you know you sort of liked him before he started crying over his ex.” Rachel told him.

Kurt nodded. He had sort of liked him. But the guy had just been through a bad break up. He sympathized with him, but Kurt hadn't ever been in a relationship. He wasn't ready to coach someone through a break up.

“Just think about it, okay?” Rachel conceded “He's in my Acting 101 class and if he were straight I'd scoop him up in a second.”

“That doesn't really make for a good argument. I've seen the men you date.” He raised his eyebrow at her when he heard her let out a huff and stomp her foot.

“I do not have bad taste in men! We both liked Finn!”

“Yes and I got over that as soon as I saw what a slob he was. You on the other hand clung on harder.” Kurt told her crossing his arms over his chest with a satisfied grin. “I shouldn't be surprised though, the mess you leave behind you sometimes…”

“You know I'm busy! My dads always told me to focus on my career and that the people could take care of the rest.”

“No wonder you're such a spoiled brat sometimes” Kurt rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath

“What was that?” Rachel asked

Kurt quickly covered. “Nothing. I was just saying that I've got a career to focus on as well. I'm never going to rise up the ranks at Vogue.com if I have to trail behind you and clean up your messes!”

“Maybe we could hire a maid?” Rachel beamed clapping her hands together excited

Kurt gave her a bitchy look. “Just because your dads are paying your way for everything, doesn't mean everyone's does. I'm trying to save my money so I can get home to my family for Christmas this year.”

“We can get another roommate then?” Rachel suggested

“We are not getting another roommate just because you're too ‘busy' to wash the dishes when you're done with them.”

“I don't see why not. They could pay in cleaning service!”

Kurt stared at her in annoyance for a minute trying to judge if she was serious or not. “That's not going to happen, Rachel. We don't even have any space for another person. Let alone someone willing to clean and deal with your 5 am wake up calls.”

“You do it!” Rachel defended with a satisfied smirk like she'd caught him in a trap.

“The only reason I deal with you is that we've been friends for years and I've gotten used to it. Plus I can't afford a place of my own.”

Rachel gave him a hurt look, tears starting to form in her eyes.  “It was just a suggestion. You don't need to be mean about it.”

 Kurt rushed over and brought her into a hug “Oh god, Rachel. No I wasn't trying to mean. I was just- look I'll go on the date. Would that make it better?”

Rachel let out an excited yelp and gave him a big grin. “You will? Oh he's going to love you! I showed him a picture of you and I swear he was speechless!”

“You showed him a picture of me?” Kurt yelped “Why would you do that?”

“So he'd know it was you when he came to the door!” Rachel beamed

Kurt sighed in frustrating “Came to the door?! You gave a complete stranger our address?” Kurt mouth fell open in shock. How could Rachel be so stupid? “This isn't Lima, Ohio Rachel! We live in New York City! He could be some sort of psycho.”

Rachel rolled her eyes thinking Kurt's reaction was silly “He's not a complete stranger, Kurt! I told you he's in one of my classes! Besides I gave him our address when I was under the impression I was being daring and asking him out for myself. You only came up when he said he was gay.”

Kurt brought his fingers up to the bridge of his noses and rubbed it in frustration. “That's not even a- You know what, never mind. When is this date anyway?”

“Tonight! I told him to pick you up at 7!”

“7?! Rachel its 6 o'clock now! How am I supposed to get ready in time?” Kurt asked her frantically

“You didn't even want to go in the first place. Why don't you just wear what you have on?”

“Because I wore this to work. Kurt Hummel does not mix business with pleasure especially when it comes to fashion.” Kurt told her definitively before rushing off to his room, coming back a few moments later with his bathrobe “Besides you said the boy was speechless? Even if he turns out to be a dud, the least I can do is look flawless.”

He rushed off the bathroom to get ready, mind full of possibilities for his date. Even if Rachel was kind of terrible at picking men for him, she still had a better track record than him. The last guy he had found himself had spent their whole date trying to convert him to what he could only assume was a branch of Wiccan!

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Kurt was making the finishing touches on his look when he heard a knock on the door at exactly 7 o'clock. Either Rachel had forgotten her keys when she went out for the night with some Nyada friends or his mystery date was here! Kurt tried not to get excited as he walked over to the loft door and pulled it open. Rachel had found some weirdo for him before, nothing said this wasn't another.

When the loft door was opened he was greeted by the sight of a handsomely adorable man holding a bouquet of flowers. Mr. adorable gave him a nervous smile “Kurt? Your um- wow you're even more beautiful in person” He ducked his head blushing and ran a hand through his curly hair as Kurt's cheeks turned red. “Sorry, that was probably completely uncalled for. “

“No, it's perfectly alright” Kurt assured giving him a happy sigh 

 “Oh, well. Ah okay. I- These are for you!” Adorable pushed the flowers into Kurt's hands still blushing. His eyes widened when he realized what he'd done. “My gosh! I'm so sorry. I've just… I haven't done this before”

Kurt reached out and touched his arm, feeling a little sorry for the poor boy. He was clearly very nervous. “This?”

“The um… I've never actually been on a date before” The innocently adorable boy admitted ducking his head in embarrassment. “It's just your friend Rachel was so insistent and after I had to reject her, I felt bad about it. And then she brought you up and started talking about how I just had to meet you. And is it true that you threatening to burn her animal sweater? Because I think you'd probably be doing the world a favor.”

Kurt let out a snort of amusement looking at the cute and adorable boy. He was one to talk with his bowties and sweater vests. Still, he knew how to rock them. Rachel just couldn't. “I did. She agreed to stop wearing them after I gave her a vogue.com makeover. Now she only wears them when she's mad at me… As far as dating goes, you're doing a lot better than most of the men Rachel tries to set me up with.”

The man let out a depreciative laugh. “Thanks, I guess.  And Rachel didn't tell me what your favorite flowers were so I got an assortment. I hope that's okay?”

“That's perfectly fine…I don't believe you said you're name?” Kurt inquired with a small smile.

“Oh! Golly geez, where are my manners?” Kurt let out a small giggle as he say him wipe his hands on his pants. Did he just say golly? He sounded like he came straight out of the fifties! The boy held out his hand hesitantly. “Blaine Anderson, Nyada Freshman at your service!”

Kurt smiled shaking his hand “Kurt Hummel, Vogue.com Intern”

“Oh wow! Vogue? That's amazing!” Blaine beamed “There has to be a great story behind that?”

Kurt blushed at the compliment “There is. Why don't I tell you while we walk?”

Blaine gave him an enthusiastic nod.  I'd love to hear it!”

Kurt gave him a smile closing the loft door behind him. He took Blaine's hand in his as they walked towards the stairs. This date was already going well; he could bend a few of his rules.

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After Kurt had finished his story, they continue talking about everything and nothing. They found out that they'd actually only lived 2 hours away from each other before they both headed to New York. They'd even almost competed against each other in glee club! Kurt teasingly told him that he didn't know if he had a favorite flower, but the ones he'd gotten him seemed to be high on his list. Blaine's eyes sparkled and he ducked his head blushing at that.

Finally after a reasonably long subway ride they came out into Manhattan. “Where are we going?” Kurt asked carefully. The restaurants in Manhattan were a little out of his price range and he certainly wouldn't let Blaine pay for something Kurt couldn't afford.

“Don't worry” Blaine smiled squeezing his hand. His face turned even redder when he realized what he'd done. “It's just…well I hope you don't mind. I've just always had this idea for a date…and its okay if you don't want to I just thought that-“

Kurt held up a hand “I'm sure whatever you have planned will be fun.”

Blaine smiled bashfully “I…okay as long as you're sure.” Kurt smiled in return. They walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes until they arrived at Central Park.

“Central Park?” Kurt asked breathlessly

Blaine rubbed the back of his neck nervously “I thought we maybe could have a picnic?”

Kurt nodded with a grin. “Yeah?”

Kurt let his mind wander as they walked through the park. Blaine seemed to be alternating between looking for something in the park and glancing over at him with a cute smile. Rachel wasn't wrong when she said he was cute and sweet. He hadn't quite seen the sensitive side yet, but the night was still young. She hadn't mentioned that he was a romantic as well though. Honestly he was actually really surprised that Rachel had set them up. She usually tried to set him up with the dumb, but pretty men: Nice to look at but not much else to them. And Blaine, well he just didn't seem to fit the type. The night was still young though.

“Aha!” Blaine squeezed his hand and led him over to blanket set up for a picnic. “I called in a favor with one of my friends to set this up for us right before I came to your apartment. I didn't want any ruffians messing with it, while I was gone or I would have done it myself…That doesn't ruin it does it?” Blaine worried his brow. "I…I want this to be perfect. I know I haven't known you very long, but from what I do know I think that you're just…really special.” Blaine dropped Kurt's hand blushing as they sat down. “I didn't just make this really awkward did I?” He asked slightly scared

“It's okay, Blaine. I kind of think you're really special too.” They both blushed at that “And for the record this is definitely shaping up to be one of the best dates I've been ever been on.”

“Now that just can't be true.” Blaine denied in disbelief “All I did was make a picnic in central park. Surely someone as gorgeous and nice as you has-“

“Blaine, I know what you're thinking. All those dreams about how you'd move to New York, meeting a nice guy and have an amazing whirlwind romance? I had those dreams too. But I quickly learned that men our age only want one of two things: Sex or they want to sell you on something. Sometimes it's both.  And no one's interested in you if you aren't a willing participant.” Kurt corrected

“Oh.” Blaine looked down sadly after a moment he looked back up at Kurt, a look of annoyance on his face. “That's a lame. They're really lame, Kurt!”

“I know. That's why I tend just put all my energy into work. Let them all mature first.”

“For the record I'm interested” Blaine said softly

Kurt beamed at him. “So am I”

He reached out to take Blaine's hand and squeezed it. He left it there as Blaine began taking food out of the basket “Now don't be too harsh. I made the food myself and- Wait you don't have any allergies do you?”

“Not that I know of.” Kurt said “And don't worry so much, Blaine. I swear everything is going really well.”

“Okay, yeah that's good.” Blaine nodded to himself before looking back at Kurt “I made Roasted tomato pasta salad, Apple chips and Lemonade. And for dessert my famous oatmeal cookies!”

Kurt let out a tiny laugh and Blaine looked at him with a look of hurt and confusion. Kurt clarified quickly “Did Rachel tell you I was vegan?”

“I think I remember her saying something about you two eating only vegan meals at your apartment.” Blaine confirmed looking worried “Did I do something wrong? I swear I didn't use real butter in the cookies!”

“No, No Blaine it's okay. It's just” Kurt laughed a little “I'm not vegan. Rachel is, and I respect that so I make sure to keep any meals I have with her vegan friendly. But I love Pizza and Cheesecake! So definitely not a vegan.”

Blaine gave him a small smile “Alright, I have to remember that. Pizza and Cheesecake on our next date-" Blaine's eyes widened frantically, scared that Kurt was going to reject him. “I mean that's if there is another.”

“You're so cute, did you know that?” Kurt told him with his hand in his hand as he looked at Blaine with a hint of fondness. “I don't think I've ever seen someone so flustered, it's adorable. And as long as this date doesn't end in complete and utter disaster, of course they'll be another”

Blaine ducked his head and smiled “Oh, that's good” Blaine handed Kurt a bowl of the pasta and placed the plate of apple crisps between them. They continued talking as they ate.

“It'll be a first for me too. Usually by this time in the first date I'm trying to figure out an exit strategy.” Kurt teased

Blaine laughed “You make it sound like they're all like this one guy I knew.” Kurt raised an eyebrow questioningly. “His name was Sebastian and he made the last two years of high school really uncomfortable”

“Bully?” Kurt asked in concern. He didn't like the idea of someone hurting Blaine.

“No…more like persistent and not knowing when he should give up. I think he had this idea that we were playing a game or something? He'd make an inappropriate comment. I'd reject him. He'd go to Scandals, that's a gay bar in West Lima, and find his latest conquest. Have his fun, only to repeat the cycle when he got bored again. Sometimes I couldn't even do my homework or practice a song in peace because he'd be there to make some lewd comment. But I almost gave in a few times, because…well the attention was nice and I knew he'd stop once he got what he wanted. I don't think he ever slept with the same person twice. But then I'd think, Blaine you are not some floozy! You don't want to lose your virginity to someone who probably won't acknowledge you again after they got what they want.”

Kurt put his food down and letting his head falling onto Blaine's shoulder as he shook with laughter. “You are such a dork, Blaine.” At Blaine's hurt expression he clarified “Sorry, I'm not laughing at the situation. He sounds vile and I commend you for not just giving in.” Kurt started laughing again “But Blaine, Floozy? Really?”

“I don't understand?” Blaine looked down at Kurt confused.

“You just seem like you're from a different time. You didn't come from the past through the Doctor Who Tardis did you?”  Kurt teased giving Blaine a wide grin.

Blaine giggled, his head resting on top of Kurt's “First of all it's the Doctor, not Doctor Who. I can't have a boyfriend who doesn't know the difference. Secondly I have a birth certificate that states I was born in 1994.”

“Oh, you have boyfriend now huh?” Kurt asked still laughing “Well boyfriend, aren't there monster's that send you back in time? How do I know they didn't do that and you were raised there but then the Doctor saved you and brought you to your proper place in time?”

Blaine shook his head “No. Remember how he couldn't save Rory and Amy? New York is all screwy.”

“Hmm…you said you grew up in Ohio though! I bet it isn't as bad in a one cow town” Kurt exclaimed

“Oh no you found out my secret at last!” Blaine sighed dramatically falling over on his side. Kurt's head end up landing in his lap. Blaine picked his head up to rest on Kurt's hip.

“I'm disappointed, Blaine. You'd think as a student at Nyada you'd be more subtle or at least act like it.” Kurt shook his head sadly with a smile.

“Maybe I wasn't trying to be subtle?”

“Maybe you're a complete dork.”

Oh? Is that it?” Blaine asked with a look Kurt couldn't quite interpret.

“I think it is” Kurt told him solemnly only to break into laughter as he felt Blaine tickling his sides. Two could play at that game. Kurt slowly reached up and started tickling Blaine as well. They rolled around for a few minutes each getting the upper hand at some point, but neither willing to give up. Finally they both just collapsed right next to each other laying on their back, their hands twined together, just laughing at how ridiculous they were being. “By far the best date ever dreamed up, Blaine.”

“Oh come on, Kurt! We haven't even ridden in the carriages yet. You can't be declaring that yet” Blaine told him with exasperated fondness.

“Carriages?” Kurt asked voice going up in excitement

“You know the carriages you ride through Central Park? I always wanted to ride in one when I got to New York!”

“Then we have to do it!” Kurt told him breathlessly. This boy was just exceeding all the expectations he tried to pretend he didn't have.